The Republic by Plato

Have you done your annual re-reading of The Republic?

The Prince by Machiavelli

Finally got around to reading this classic. A short read and well worth the time.

Nietzsche by Walter Kaufmann

I generally try to read great philosophers first before reading secondary literature, so I don't read the greats through the lens of lesser minds. There is a reason the great philosophers are great, right? I've read some of Nietzsche - Zarathustra, Beyond Good and Evil, The Genealogy of Morals - but have to admit I never quite got what he was getting at, certainly not the way Kierkegaard's Concluding Unscientific Postscript made immediate sense to me.  That's been cleared up for me by Kaufmann's book - which I found in a used book store for $1.99 a few months ago. It still gives me a thrill to browse used book stores for such cheap treasures.

Verdun by John Mosier

Interesting take on the Battle of Verdun in WW1 that takes on the conventional wisdom. Mosier makes a strong case that it was not, nor was intended to be, a battle of attrition. He points out things like the fact that the German casualty rate was no lower before and after the battle than during it. He also makes a good case that the first German Chief of Staff, von Falkenhayn, was way ahead of everyone else (both in Germany and among the Allied nations) in understanding the nature of the war.

10% Happier by Dan Harris

Dan Harris is a host of Good Morning America and Nightline on ABC TV. The book is about his discovery of Buddhist meditation and how it made him, in his words "10% happier." It actually does more than that for him, giving him some center and peace in a typical "type A" lifestyle.

The book is worth reading for Harris's style and self-deprecating humor. For a TV personality, he's refreshingly free of vanity.

The Christian Philosophy of St. Augustine by Etienne Gilson

Excellent as always from Gilson.

The Neon Rain by James Lee Burke

Story about a messed up cop in New Orleans. Good enough that I'll try the next in the series.